This invention relates to covers for truck beds, and more particularly to a side-to-side truck cover system.
Many trucks, particularly those hauling loose loads such as sand and gravel, need a truck cover to prevent the wind from blowing load particles off the load bed. Various apparatus have been devised for covering a truck load. Some such apparatus include a motor for selectively winding a flexible cover. An effective truck cover should be one which is easily operated by the truck driver so as to selectively cover and uncover the truck bed from the convenient location of the truck cab. My U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,955, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, provides a truck cover which may be conveniently motor operated from the cab of a truck to extend the cover from a winding assembly proximate the front of the truck bed and forward the rear of the truck bed.
A need also exists for systems that cover the truck bed from side to side. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,328,228 shows a cover for truck bed and cargo. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,758 shows a roll assist mechanism for tarp systems. My U.S. Pat. No. 6,206,449, the disclosure of which is also hereby incorporated by reference, shows a side-to-side truck cover system including a pair of arms, each of which includes a base and an extension.
The present invention is an arm assembly for a cover of a truck. The arm assembly comprises a base, an intermediate segment, and an extension. The base is pivotably connected proximate a top of a cab of the truck, and the intermediate segment is pivotably connected to the base. The extension is connected to the cover and pivotably connected to the intermediate segment.
Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide an assembly of the type described above which covers the bed of a truck from side to side.
Another object of this invention is to provide an assembly of the type described above which provides selective, powered control over covering and uncovering the load bed.
Still another object of this invention is to provide an assembly of the type described above which can be mounted proximate the top of the truck cab.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description of the best mode for carrying out the invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.